Detailed And Historically Pretty Accurate

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2007)

How much you like this movie will depend to what extent you like the genre. If war movies are it for you, then this account of D-Day - the Allied invasion of Normandy (seen from both the Allied and German perspectives) - has to be one of the best war movies ever made. It's realistic and completely believable in every way. If you like the historical epic genre, you'll appreciate this. There was great attention paid to details in putting this together, and as far as I can see it was pretty accurate in those details as well. If you aren't into either of those genres, then this probably wouldn't be of any interest to you.
"The Longest Day" features a stand-out cast (figures such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Roddy McDowall, Paul Anka, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, - even a young Sean Connery) and the German characters actually speak German (with English sub-titles) which I appreciate, as it does add another heir of authenticity to the story. It's pretty long at almost three hours (and I have to confess that my attention wandered from time to time) but those with an interest in this era of history will want to watch it and will appreciate it. 7/10